Anniversary
by Alissa-Weasley
Summary: "I couldn't save him, Harry... It's my fault he's dead, I'm not brilliant, I'm a failure..." she sobbed. It's been exactly a year since the Great War, and Hermione and Harry visit an old friends grave. / WARNING ; Major Character Death. / ONE SHOT


_**A/N ; Hi Guys! So, I know this is a whole lot different than the Harmony and Neville/Ginny fanfics, I usually write, but I had the urge to write about what happened after the war, and what happened a year after that. Usually, I hate Hermione x Ron with all my heart, but I twisted it up. Some may be OOC, and I guess it's alright. Just a warning, this made me cry while writing it, so be prepared. D': **_

_**Have fun reading this, and here's a tissue! *passes tissue* **_

_**Please Read and Review, **_

_**Love, Alissa**_

Hermione looked at Harry beside her. It was the year after the Great War, and during all the combat, So many had died… screams of the lost and damned still rang in her ears. She could hear family members, crying for their loved ones, and she could hear screams of torture that rang throughout the whole field, among those being tortured and beaten, was her boyfriend, and one of her best friends Ron Weasley . She remembered it all so clearly…

_**-FLASH BACK- **_

_Hermione looked around her; The building of Hogwarts school was diminished to a pathetic massive pile of stone. She covered her ears in horror. Who was screaming now? Was it one of her best friends? A person she grew up with? Or just a mere first year, who decided to fight in the War, but was now half dead? _

_She started to run, she couldn't see anything, and frankly, that was a good thing. She ran, far, far away, without a sense of direction or thought. She looked up ahead; she saw the silhouette of a familiar redhead, and a death eater._

"_STUPEFY!" Ron yelled_

"_SECTEMSEMPERA!" yelled the figure in the black cloak._

_It hit Ron square in the chest. Hermione screamed, and yelled a spell. She couldn't remember what spell she had uttered, but it had hit the death eater, and he was now dead._

_Hermione threw her wand down, and ran to her boyfriend. A steady flow of blood was coming out his chest._

"_Ron! Ron! No… Please… Ron, You can't leave me! Remember when you promised me, forever? What happened to that? Please… Ron… just say something, open your eyes" Hermione cried, over her boyfriend's body. She had his head in her lap, and she was trying to stop the blood that was escaping from his chest._

_All around her, she was surrounded by the rubble of what was once Hogwarts. The greatest school on earth. There was still fighting going on, she could see Seamus battling a death eater, and Luna and Neville making a team to fight against Dolohov._

"_H…erm...ione?" Ron said, fighting hard to breath. He opened his eyes, and let Hermione have one more look into his brown eyes that she loved so much. _

"_Ron! Please… I'm going to save you! I promise you… We promised forever, and we will stay forever. I can't think of a spell, But I promise, you'll live" She said, fighting to speak through her tears._

"_N..No …use…" Ron said, chuckling weakly through his pain. _

"_What are you saying? I promised you, Ron… You'll be alright. I'm the brightest witch of our age! I can heal you" she said, clutching his hand, begging him not to leave her._

"_H-Hermione… I'm going to die… Please… End up with Harry… he…deserves…you…'Mione… trust me with this… If I…can't have you… Harry can…Take…the…ring…in my pocket promise…me…you'll…never…take…it…off… I love you Hermione…so much… Good…bye" Ron said, as he took his last breath from earth. She watched his eyelids close, concealing the bright brown eyes that she had loved. She watched his chest go up as he took his final breath. She collapsed into a heap, and prayed for the Gods to bring him back._

_She reached towards his pocket and grabbed a small velvet box. It fit right in the middle of her palm. She opened it, and there was a ring. It was gold band with a heart hollowed out in the middle. She looked at the engraving on it that said ; _

"_To my girlfriend, my fiancé, and my future, I love you so much. RW + HG" _

_She brushed away the tears that were falling. She couldn't have imagined the ring more beautiful in any other way. _

_She clutched his hand, raising it up to her cheek, brushing her tears away. She squeezed it harder, hoping to see him wince in pain. It was no use, his face stayed the same, but he died with a smile upon his face. _

"_Please… Ron… you're the only one I really want… You can't leave me here alone… Ron…" She said. She let go of his hand, and it went limp. It was true. Ron was gone forever. Her best friend, her boy friend, Her soul mate. He was gone forever. All at the age of 17. No… teens weren't supposed to die! They had their whole lives ahead of them! It couldn't be… _

_He was her other half, She couldn't be a whole without him. As he took his final breath, He had taken the final piece of her heart along with him; she was hollow, a jigsaw puzzle missing its pieces. _

_Harry ran over to her, and look down at his best mate's body. His red hair was a mess of blood and mud, and his clothes were covered in dirt. _

"_No… It…I…Ron…" He murmured in disbelief._

_He kneeled down beside Hermione, and they both started to cry into the other's shoulder._

"_Harry, I'm no good at being a witch. I let my boyfriend die right in front of me. I'm supposed to be good at magic! I'm said to be the brightest witch of our age! If I really were all that, Why is he dead? I was suppose to protect him, and heal him… and to think I wanted to be a healer… I'm no good… I don't deserve to be a witch, Harry. He's dead… I couldn't do anything… It's my fault… I'm not brilliant… I…" She said, crying. _

"'_Mione… it's not your fault…" Harry said, hugging her. _

"_Yes it is, it's my fault, Harry! I watched him die! I couldn't do anything… I'm nothing…It's my fault he's dead… I'm a failure…" She said, fighting hard to catch her breath. _

"_Hermione Granger. Listen to me. You're the smartest witch of our age. You can't control everything. 'mione… I've got to go meet Voldemort in the forest… Please… Promise me you'll fight till the end if I don't return" He said, kissing her lightly on the cheek. _

_She started to cry even harder, while watching her other best friend walk away, not knowing if he would have the same fate as Ron's… _

_**END OF FLASHBACK – **_

She wiped a tear away; it had been exactly a year since that happened. Exactly a year since he had his head in her lap. Exactly a year since she watched him take his final breath. Exactly a year since she first put on the ring. Exactly a year since the love of her life died. Exactly a year since the whole Weasley family had died.

They were surrounded by dead flowers, dead grass. Everything that was supposed to be living was dead. Dead, dead, dead. Nothing living had ever ventured far into the graveyard of the deceased.

She and Harry were standing in the centre of the grave yard, looking down at all the names imprinted in the stone. 7 names, all in row.

"_Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Percy Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, Ron Weasley and Ginny Weasley_

_, "__**One of the greatest Wizard families to live,  
>Taken away from us at the Great War.<br>Although not here in person, always with us in spirit and truth,  
>forever loved, and missed. <strong>_

_**True Heroes are never appreciated, until they're lost"**_

She grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it. He squeezed it back, and a tear slipped.

"I miss them… so much..." she said, wiping the tears away. He squeezed her hand back, and kneeled down over their grave.

"Hey Gin, How are you doing up there? I miss you loads, I hope you're happy up there with Neville… the boy you truly belong with, he's the true hero out of all of this…I love you so much Gin, Don't forget that" He said, smiling through the tears that were falling from his eyes.

Hermione kneeled down and hugged him, and with that; Harry broke down, he started bawling uncontrollably.

"'mione, I miss them so much… they were my second family, my everything" He said, sobbing into her shoulder.

"I haven't cried since that night… It's my fault they're all dead. It's my entire fault… I shouldn't be alive… I don't want to be alive! It's my fault that they're beneath the ground… It's my fault… I can't believe… I miss them so much…" he continued, releasing the emotions he held in throughout the year. Hermione had never seen him like this, all weak, and vulnerable.

"Harry… It's not your fault they're like this, you've saved millions, now that Voldemorts dead" She said, trying to act soothing.

Harry sniffled and said nothing.

She released him, figuring he'd want to be alone. She got up and started walking when she felt someone grab her hand.

She turned and saw Harry holding onto her.

"Please… Just… stay with me for now…" he said, grasping her hand with tears pouring from his eyes.

She held his hand and sat down beside him holding his hand. She had never seen Harry like this. He was crying buckets, and he looked so broken.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Hermione turned around. A little girl around the age of 5 was standing there. She had bright brown hair, and green eyes. She stood there, with a handful of different flowers.

"Oh, … Hello" Hermione said to the younger girl.

"I saw you and your friend crying… and my mummy always said flowers can make people smile… you guys are too nice looking to be crying, please take this flower" the little girl said, innocently smiling at them.

Hermione took the flower, and looked at it. She remembered exactly what flower it was, Neville had shown her the exact same flower a number of years ago. It was a forget-me-not, which meant "in remembrance".

"Thank you…" Hermione said, smiling through her tears at the little girl.

"It's no problem, Miss, Just a question… the ones who are here… are they important to you?" the little girl asked.

"Yes… He was my fiancé" Hermione replied, her voice started to break.

"Oh… That's sad…Hey mister up there, you're lucky to have her, you know? She's beautiful, True love never dies, I hope you guys will be happy" the little girl said, as she skipped off, not noticing the dead that surrounded her.

Hermione smiled down at the ring, she had never taken it off, she would keep her promise to Ron forever. She placed the flower on the grave, and pulled Harry up with her. He smiled through the tears, and kissed her forehead.

She took his hand, and together; walked out of the graveyard.

The sun was coming up, and the sky was painted with pink, orange, and yellow, making the darkness fade into the rest of the sky. The trees were mere silhouettes that held the darkness, and the birds were chirping. She had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. They walked into the sunset, hand in hand.

Maybe the future would look brighter…

**THE END - **

_Hi guys, So, This was by far, the hardest story I ever had to write. I kept crying during this, and I really don't know why. I had no idea how to end it, and I think I might've written Ron out of character, but it's the way I pictured him treating Hermione, Anyways, Please review! It'll make my day! Constructive criticism please, I don't take kindly to flames,_

_Love, Alissa _


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